I'll Catch You Before You Fall
by LanaBannana
Summary: A war AU in which Kenma's family dies, Kenma joins the Army as a nurse, and meets Kuroo. He becomes friends with Hinata and Akaashi along the way. (I suck at summaries and this is the best I've got so far because I have no idea what I'm writing each chapter tbh)
1. Chapter 1

**November 15, 1955- age 10**

 _Black, suffocating smoke arose in the midnight sky, mixing with the hundreds of desperate villagers pleads for help._

 _"My son, my daughter! They're unconscious! Someone please, help!"_

 _"I can't breathe! I've been shot!"_

 _"Please, help us!"_

 _Children were stuck in burning houses, glassy-eyed expressions through windows witnessed the bloodbath unfold. Their last sight would be people, before their own eyes, being shot dead to the ground._

 _Endless bombs fell, curdling screams sustained. Chaos struck as people ran for their own lives, leaving the dead behind them. The matter of life and death hung from a thin, weak thread._

 _Flickering lights from countless helicopters above illuminated through the dark smoke, scoping out those who ran. They didn't hesitate to shoot. Those who ran were shot almost immediately, falling to the ground as multiple bullets pierced them._

 _The sound of bullets rang for what seemed like hours. The innocent cries became hushed until silence engulfed the air. Red, scarlet blood stained the gravel roads as the hundreds of villagers lay to their unexpected death._

 _Silent tears fell down his blood stained cheeks, watching the sun rise into early morning. Kenma lay among the dead, alone and very much alive. He had merely escaped death, yet his heart was left heavy with the awful sight of his dead, bloodied family's bodies that lay beside him._

 _Pushing himself up onto his battered knees, his eyes briefly hesitated to scan the village he had called home. Houses and buildings lay in crumbled ashe, some even still burning. His eyes finally met the ground, analyzing each body that lie scattered in the bloodied massacre._

 _The war had only just begun._

 **August 23, 1962- age 18**

Kenma tsched, narrowing his eyes at the orange headed fluffball who was jumping up and down on the seat beside him. The boy soon glanced over and caught his unamused expression. He stopped bouncing and lowered his gaze to the ground in defeat. Just as Kenma was about to stare back out the train window, the ginger spoke out to him. He was definitely not looking for a conversation, especially with this guy.

"Hi, I'm Hinata!" The boy exclaimed, reaching his hand out in a friendly manner to meet his own. "I didn't notice you over there, you're so quiet!"

Kenma just stared blankly at the boy's hand, noticing one of his legs starting to shake out the corner of his eye. This kid had to have ADHD or something.

"Anyways, what's your name?" Hinata questioned once the blonde didn't respond, realizing that Kenma wasn't the "touchy-feely" type and putting his hand back down instead.

Kenma gnawed at his cheek, debating whether he could ignore him or if he should just tell him his name. Although, Kenma knew that exchanging names would lead to even more conversation.

"Kozume Kenma."

Hinata's star struck expression almost made him want to laugh.

"Wooa, that's such a cool name!" The orange haired boy praised, scooting closer to him. "So what made you want to get into the Army?"

The blunt question coming from the obnoxious ginger caught him off guard. He didn't really know how to respond or what to respond with. No one typically asked this question, let alone tried to talk to him in general. He hadn't thought of what to say when someone did ask this.

"I, um, just was into medical and helping people I guess.." The blonde's face flushed red, his golden eyes skimming the window for a moment before he continued. "The Army was looking for people and they told me I could be trained as a military nurse."

Hinata's eyes were burning into him and he felt as if the boy could tell how much he was leaving out.

"Ah, cool! I want to be a soldier!" The orange fluff continued, his smile growing as words came spewing out of his mouth. "Even though I'm short and look shrimpy, I'm strong! Everyone says that I won't be able to make it, but I know that I can. People doubt me for my small size but I sure can fight!"

Hinata began punching the air with one hand and pretending to shoot a gun with the other.

Kenma just twisted his lips, playing with his hands nervously.

"You know, you don't really seem like the type to be in the military," Hinata speaks freely and Kenma can already tell that this guy doesn't know how to think before he says something. Kenma hears him mumble something about him looking like a fragile kitten, but he isn't sure. "But I'm sure you will be the best nurse ever!"

The two eventually fall into a comfortable silence once Hinata finally stops talking. Kenma swears that the kid will have a rough time at training if he plans on talking the trainer's ears off.

As the sky darkens, Kenma allows himself to slip into an unwavering slumber. He, as well as all the members aboard the train, await to arrive at the training facility.

 **August 25, 1962**

The city was substantially large compared to anywhere he has ever been. His hometown had consisted of a few hundred people, yet this place housed well over thirty thousand. The thought made him anxious.

"Everyone here has already passed the written test, correct?" A tall, slick-backed blonde haired man stood before the gate to the facility, balancing a cigarette between his lips.

"You all will be individually split up into groups based upon the interest you had selected and trained for another test. This test will determine if you're strong enough to be in the Army. The weakest will be soughted out and will be sent back to their hometown. We need strong recruiters, folks."

Kenma side glanced at Hinata beside him, who was thoroughly engaged in the man's speech, bouncing up and down eagerly on his toes.

The man introduced himself as Ukai, who was one of the top officers at this specific facility. He began talking more in depth about _"what being a soldier was really like,"_ which Kenma zoned out on.

"Also, another thing to remember, folks. Physical strength does _not_ determine if you're strong enough." Ukai made a great deal in glancing at a younger, slightly bald man who appeared to be pretty buff leaning against the fence by a shorter man with a blonde stripe in his hair.

"Aye!" Tanaka shouted, a playful expression settling on his face. "Don't look at me when you say that."

"Anyways, let's get you guys in groups. You will be assigned to a trainer, who you will report to when needed."

Ukai turned on his heel, pushing the gate doors open and walking inside the facility. There was a big building in the middle, while small, what looked to be cabins, scattered the premises. There was also a huge field filled with obstacles which Kenma hoped he wouldn't have to ever go through.

Following Ukai inside the bigger building with the rest of the members, Kenma laid his eyes on all of the officers and trainers who were lined up in a horizontal line. His eyes stuck on a tall, black haired man with a roguish smile. He admired the way he stood; tall, proud, and confident. Something he isn't. Although his gold eyes quickly darted away once he realized the man had been staring right back at him.

Ukai then began to name off the names on clipboard that he had been handed.

 _"Yamaguchi Tadashi.._

 _Tsukishima Kei.._

 _Group **one** with Bokuto. "_

Ukai pointed to a smug, owly looking man with spiky white hair and black tips. A tall blonde with glasses started walking towards him and a freckled brunette trailed behind.

 _"Asahi Azumane.._

 _Haiba Lev.._

 _Yaku Morisuke.._

 _Group **two** with Daichi."_

A friendly, but stern man waved and the group who had been called gathered around him.

 _"Oikawa Tooru.._

 _Kageyama Tobio.._

 _Hinata Shouyou.._

 _Group **three** with Iwaizumi."_

Ukai smirked at the clipboard, pointing in the direction to a pissed off, dark spiky haired man. A pretty, brown haired boy was smiling ear to ear as he walked up to him, whispering something into his ear before standing beside him, smile never faltering.

Kenma then stiffened as Hinata's presence left his side, going to also stand by the people in his group. He had grown so used to hiding behind his shadow that he felt even more alone than when he was on the train before he started talking to him.

His heart lifted though when he saw Hinata wave excitedly to him, standing next to a black haired boy with a cat piss expression.

 _"Kenma Kozume.._

 _Akaashi Keiji.._

 _Group **four** with Sugawara. And Kuroo will be assisting with the physical part, not the medical part."_

A grey haired man who looked part angel gave a small, warm wave and a beaming smile to signal his presence as Kuroo crossed his arms in response next to him.

Kenma let his hair fall over his face to cover the blush on his cheeks. _Oh god._ Did he really have to get stuck with the guy he had been gawking at when they came in?

He took small footsteps towards the two, glancing sideways to see another pretty, black haired guy with dark eyes heading towards them as well. Atleast he wasn't alone in this.

"I'm Sugawara, but please, call me Suga!" The angel sang as they got to their group, his voice literally radiating kindness.

"Kuroo," The tall, black haired man responded, anything but kindness flowing out of his.

Kenma pulled in his lips, willing himself not to sneak a glance at Kuroo. He could feel the man's gaze on him already. He already pictured the smirk that lay comfortably on his lips.

"I'm Akaashi," The brunette next to him spoke; his voice was soft and it lingered beautifully in the air. Kenma could tell that he was going to get along well with him.

"Kenma," Kenma restated like Kuroo had, almost as if to mock him. The blonde finally gained the courage to glance up to indeed see the black haired man staring down at him. Kenma, in response to this, rolls his eyes.

"Now that you have your groups, this is where you will be spending most of your time. I hope you all get along with your group members because there is no changing." Ukai grins, staring down at the cigarette between his fingers.

"Also, you'll all be expected to share a single room with all of your group members. _Bonding_ is a thing, kids."

With that, Kenma takes another single glance at Kuroo, who again is staring back at him, and sighs deeply.


	2. Chapter 2

**August 25, 2018**

"Are you sure you can handle being in the military, kid? You don't look like you've got much meat on your bones and it doesn't help that you've got the eyes of a kitten."

Kenma's eyes followed Suga and Akaashi as they walked ahead of them toward the living quarters, refusing to focus on the tall, raven haired form that walked beside him. The guy was giving him a headache. Sure he was attractive, but his attractiveness didn't make up for his cocky attitude.

"I'm 18, not 12. You call me a kid yet you're only a year older than me," The blonde replied curtly, his gaze not faltering in the slightest.

Kuroo side glanced Kenma, quirking an eyebrow at the fact that Kenma had known his age despite hardly talking to him.

"How do you know I'm only a year older than you? Did you stalk me before you came here or something?" Kuroo questioned smugly, running a quick hand through his coarse hair. Kenma couldn't tell if he did this to try to look "cool" or if it was a nervous habit.

Kenma came to a halt, finally looking at Kuroo with tired eyes. He simply pointed to the metal plate on his uniform which had his name, date of birth, and military position on it.

"Your uniform," Was all Kenma said before continuing to walk, not waiting for Kuroo as he stood dumbfounded.

It was a moment later when Kenma felt his presence next to him again.

"Smart, observant too," Kuroo didn't hide the smirk on his face as he continued. "I like the smart type."

The blonde chewed his lip in response, examining each room they passed as a distraction.

"You don't have to be smart to read a nametag," Kenma countered, frowning slightly at the social interaction between them.

"So you were checking me out?"

"No."

"I see. You know, It's okay if you find me attractive. A lot of people here do, especially that tall blonde guy with the glasses. I saw him checking me out a few times earlier," Kuroo let out a hearty laugh that sounded scarily like a hyena, which echoed loudly down the narrow hallway. Suga and Akaashi looked back at him, both giving him a scolding glance. "I would bang him."

Kenma's frown grew as his eyes remained the same tiredness as before.

"You're gross."

When they finally arrived at the room they'd all be sharing, Suga and Akaashi agreed to share one of the bunks which left Kuroo and Kenma to have no choice but to share the other.

Kenma watched as Kuroo began to already claim his bed on the bottom bunker, leaving Kenma to fend for himself on the top. He really didn't care for being on top, since he had a mild fear of heights. He dealt with it though to avoid anymore conversation with the cocky raven, grabbing his bag and blankets and hauling it on the top bunk.

Once they were all done setting up their bed space, Suga and Kuroo decided to explain how things were going to go down for the next couple of weeks until the big exam.

"Each morning you are required to wake up at 5 am sharp, get dressed in these uniforms," Suga paused, lifting two white uniforms from a bag that looked far too big for both Akaashi and Kenma. "and report for training. The training depends on the duty but since you both are training to be nurses, you won't have to undergo as much physical activities and physical obstacles as soldiers do."

The grey haired angel gave a reassuring wink and let Kuroo explain the rest.

"Suga will teach you the basics on nursing in battle and out of battle. He will teach you how to react when curing a soldier or citizen. He will also teach you how to perform quick surgeries on battlefield and how to deal with injuries depending on how bad they are." Kuroo stopped, twiddling with the watch on his wrist before continuing.

"Myself, on the other hand, will help with teaching you how to shoot, defend, protect, and keep up with soldiers. It's important to remember to stay true to your comrades but also to yourself. In battle, you often are faced with hard decisions that you'll have to make."

Kenma was surprised at how serious Kuroo was when it came to his job. The intrusive attitude seemed to have vanished and was replaced with something more resolute. Maybe there was more to him than what eye could see.

"Anyways, we should probably get going back to Ukai and the other groups. Apparently he wants to have a separate meeting with the trainers. I think you guys can just meet and talk with the rest of the recruiter groups while we're meeting."

They all headed back to the main building entrance where they met with the rest of the groups. Kenma watched as Suga left their group after telling them that the meeting wouldn't take long, making his way towards another trainer named Daichi, who smiled affectionately at him. Daichi leaned over to murmur something in Suga ear, which made the silver haired beauty blush.

 _Could they be anymore obvious?_

Considering how openly romantic the two of them were, Kenma had to guess that their relationship was pretty sappy.

Kuroo soon left the group as well without a word, meeting up with the white, spikey haired guy who he thinks he remembered as Bokuto. As Kuroo and Bokuto talked, Kenma's observant eye picked up on the lovestruck gaze Bokuto had on the unaware Akaashi. His lips turn up in what looked to be a smile, but soon vanished.

"I feel like someone is staring at me," The brunette next to him spoke softly in the room of crowded people, which Kenma didn't think he would've heard if he didn't have good ears.

"There is," Kenma replied, his gold eyes catching Akaashi's darker ones. His eyes wandered back onto the spiky white haired guy next to Kuroo as if to silently show Akaashi _who_ before dropping his gaze.

He heard Akaashi stifle a laugh next to him.

"Kenma!" He heard an obnoxious voice behind him call his name, resulting in his shoulders to shrink even more than they already were.

Hinata stood behind him with the leering taller boy from before who still wore the same angry expression.

"This is Kageyama, he is such a sourpuss!" The orange haired fluff ball stuck his tongue out at Kageyama, who in return scowled even more than he already was.

"Dumbass! You don't even know me," The raven spoke, standing awkwardly next to the smaller boy.

"Well you don't know me either so you can't call me a dumbass!" Hinata argued annoyingly, waving his hands in the others face.

Kenma watched the interaction, letting the sigh escape his lips. His eyes began to grow heavier and decided he was going to rest instead of talk to others. Socializing wasn't really his thing anyways.

He moved away from the bickering two to go sit next one of the windows in the large room. He let his head lean against the window, closing his eyes, and ignoring the loud chattering. He saw a shadow pass him behind his closed eyelids and squinted to see Akaashi sitting beside him, an open book resting in between his legs. Akaashi's presence relaxed him, which was odd since they barely talked. Kenma guessed that he just had some kind of comforting nature about him. It made sense that he'd want to be a nurse.

His eyes closed again and he fell into a fast, dreamless sleep.

"Look at how cute he is, my god. He legit looks like a sleeping kitten." The voice spoke, waking Kenma up out of his slumber. Kenma, however, did not open his eyes.

"Do I wake him up or do I carry him back?" The voice seemed to be asking a person who was near to them.

"I don't know, dude. He doesn't look heavy at all, not saying that you couldn't lift him if he was, but what if he wakes up and you got'em all tucked in your arms and stuff?"

There was a pause and then Kuroo spoke again.

"True, but really, who wants to wake a sleeping kitten? That's just cruel, bro." With that, Kenma felt strong arms wrap around his small back and under his knees, pulling him into a large chest. Kenma breathed in and admired how good Kuroo smelled. _Wait, did he really just do that?_

Kenma listened as Bokuto and Kuroo talked, mostly about dumb things, some military related, and some painfully humorous things that made Kenma want to burst out laughing at.

"This guy, I think he's in your group bro, he's so gorgeous I can't stop staring at him." Kenma could vision the starstruck expression on Bokuto's face as he talked about Akaashi. He almost lost it once Bokuto continued, "I know it's the first day and all but damn, he makes me all hot and flustered just looking at him. I'm suppose to do that to him!"

Bokuto then concluded to ask if Kuroo could try and hook him up, in which Kuroo proceeded to say that he'd _try_.

Kenma then didn't hear Bokuto's voice anymore, so he assumed that he had went back to his group's room.

The pounding footsteps and Kuroo's beating heart were all he could hear and it was starting to make him sleepy again. Without thinking, Kenma accidently opened his eyes the moment Kuroo had his eyes on him. This took Kuroo by surprise as he stopped, furrowing his brow, and looked down into Kenma's obvious awake eyes.

Feeling a bit more confident being held in Kuroo's arms, Kenma decided to have a little fun with their current situation.

"Do you carry everyone to their rooms or just me?" Kenma questioned sarcastically, letting out a small yawn and pretending to stretch in Kuroo's arms.

Kenma caught the smidge of pink creeping onto Kuroo's face, but decided against saying anything.

"I'll drop you."

"Do it."

Kuroo hesitated, but loosened his arms just enough, resulting in Kenma grabbing onto his uniform for dear life.

"Okay, okay, don't do it." The blonde mumbled in defeat, letting go of his uniform once Kuroo hoisted him back into a secure position.

An awkward silence fell between the two and Kenma could only hear Kuroo's footsteps and heartbeat again.

"So you've been awake the whole time?"

"Mhm."

"And you heard everything?"

"Mhm."

"That's cute." Kuroo smirked at him yet again, and this time Kenma didn't stop himself from rolling his eyes.

"You're gross."

Kenma was dropped to the ground when they reached their room, Kuroo regaining his cool as he turned the door handle.

Suga and Akaashi lay on their beds reading, glancing up only when they both came through the doorway.

"Kenma! Glad to see you're awake," Suga beamed, returning to his book. "Thank you Kuroo for bringing him back."

"It was no problem," Kuroo insisted, winking at Kenma as he walked passed him to sit on his bunker.

"You guys should wash up and go to sleep. You have to wake up pretty early tomorrow," Suga suggested while reading his book. Kenma guessed that he was studying. For what, he didn't know.

Kenma cautiously climbed on his top bunker, watching Kuroo stretch out beneath him, hands folded over his head.

"Nah, I'll wash up in the morning," Kuroo spoke, glancing up at Kenma who was already curling up in his own blankets.

"I'm guessing Kenma feels the same way, too."

Suga and Akaashi both wrinkled their noses at them, but Kenma's eyes were already closing, ignoring their disgust.

The room quieted and darkened as Kenma fell asleep to the light snoring of Kuroo passed out below him.


End file.
